A Reason to Stay
by MandyCakes
Summary: Story based on the season finale. What happens when Betty learns about the accident? eventually DB
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty or any of its characters.**

**A/N: **This story is based off of the events of the season finale (such a great episode)!!! I hope you guys like the story...I have a feeling its going to be kind of long, but first I need to know what you all think of it (hint-hint).

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Betty pulled Justin's covers up around his neck, letting out a deep sigh. She closed his door behind him and slumped down the wall in defeat. She couldn't believe Santos was really gone.

Justin had surprisingly taken it better than she thought. Hilda had tried to hold it together after Justin's play was over, but she had fallen apart again. It was so horrible- that Santos was taken away from them just as they were finally becoming a family. Life was so cruel sometimes.

She wiped at her tear-streaked face and walked downstairs. Her heart ached at the sight of Hilda curled up on the couch, clutching a picture of Santos to her heart.

She sighed once more, trying to compose herself. She placed the blanket over her sister and kissed her forehead. Betty wished there was something she could do to ease the pain her sister was feeling. She knew there would be hard times ahead, but hoped they could get through them as a family.

A vibrating sound caught her attention and interrupted her thoughts. After a second she realized it was her cell phone. She rummaged through her purse and flipped it open before it stopped.

"Hello?" she answered quietly, going into the kitchen. "Hello. Am I speaking to Betty Suarez?" the unfamiliar voice asked on the other end.

"Umm…yes. May I as who's speaking?" she cleared her voice. "This is Dr. Samantha James at Memorial Hospital…I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm afraid Daniel and Alexis Meade were involved in a car crash earlier this evening. I realize you aren't next of kin, but your number appeared quite frequently in his phone and I'm having trouble reaching his father," Betty held on to the wall for support as she felt her legs go weak.

Why was all this happening? Why now? "Hello? Ms. Suarez?" Betty clutched the phone and brought it to her ear. "Yes. I'm here…I- I'll be right there."

Betty hated hospitals. For as long as she could remember, they just gave her the creeps. She made her way to the fifth floor ICU and stepped off the elevator, not allowing herself to become immersed in the all-too-familiar smell that reminded her of when her mother died.

"Excuse me," Betty reached the nurses' station, "Dr. James called me…regarding Daniel Meade. He was-" Someone touched her shoulder, "Betty Suarez?" a tall African-American woman asked. "I'm Dr. James. May I ask how you know him?"

"I'm his assistant. We-we're friends," she answered.

"Alright…come with me please," Dr. James led her down the hall.

"Daniel and Alexis were brought into the ER a few hours ago. The car she was driving hit a tree and ended up in a ditch. Alexis had considerable swelling around her brain and she's in surgery right now," Dr. James began.

"And-and Daniel?" Betty's small voice questioned nervously. "Daniel sustained a mild concussion and fractured one of his vertebrae. We had to perform emergency surgery to repair the damage on his spine. We won't know what effect the surgery will have on his lower motor function until he wakes up. He also had a considerable amount of drugs and alcohol in his system- close to a fatal amount. He's very lucky to be alive," she explained, glancing down at her pager as it went off.

"He's still unconscious but he may respond to a familiar voice. I've got to check on this page but I'll be back as soon as I can," she told her, retreating down the hall.

Betty slowly opened his hospital door, the incessant beeping of the heart monitor the only sound in the room. Tears filled her eyes at the sight. The closer she got to his bed, the more apparent his scars became. He looked so fragile, lying there with tubes and wires running everywhere.

"Oh Daniel," she took his bruised hand and held it in her own. "How'd things get so bad so quickly?" she asked while tears streamed down her cheeks. "Santos is dead, Henry left…and now you're..." Betty didn't have the strength to finish. "Can you hear me? Please wake up. You have to wake up."

Betty returned home very early the next morning. Hilda and Justin were in the same place she had left them, thank God. She sighed deeply, treading up the stairs to her bedroom.

She removed her glasses and rubbed her tired eyes, glancing at herself in the mirror. She couldn't get the last conversation she'd had with Daniel out of her mind.

"_Oh my… Daniel! What were you thinking?"_

"_I don't know. But at least I'm not having sex to erase my problems anymore…"_

"_No, you're taking drugs!" Betty yelled, crossing her arms._

"_I know…you're disappointed in me," Daniel sighed, averting his gaze to the floor._

"_I'm so past disappointed, Daniel," she turned on her heel, leaving his office._

He needed her help…and she'd yelled at him. Now she wasn't sure if she'd have a chance to apologize. Betty pulled her hair back and lay down to cry, finally allowing the day's events to take their toll on her.

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Good start? Bad Start? REVIEW!!! Thanks. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own a DAMN thing. **

**Summary:** What happens when Betty finds out about Daniel's accident?

**A/N: Okay...so I'm seriously thinking about abandoning this fic, but if enough people want me to continue I might. I think I just lost inspiration for this fic sometime this summer. Anywho, here's the chapter : )**

And...Daniel's thoughts are in _italics_

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Betty found her way around the ICU and finally to Daniel's room early the next morning. Hilda had been pretty distraught that morning, but insisted on spending some alone time with Justin. 

Bradford Meade was sitting in one of the chairs outside of his room, reading the morning paper. "Morning Mr. Meade," Betty said quietly. He lowered the paper and nodded at her, "Betty."

Bradford felt as if he should've have been more surprised by the fact that Daniel's assistant had shown up to check up on him, but for some reason he wasn't.

"Any change?" she wondered. "Not much," Bradford replied, standing to his feet. "I'm going to get some coffee. Would you like some?"

"Oh...no thank you," she watched him reteat down the hall before opening Daniel's door.

She pulled a chair up next to Daniel's bed, watching his steady breathing. "Hi Daniel…it's me- Betty. I wanted to see if you'd made any improvement…but you seem the same."

_Daniel Meade couldn't remember a time when he had felt worse. This was worse than the time he'd gotten pneumonia during that vacation in Sweden. Worse than having alcohol poisoning after graduating from prep school. _

"Everything's falling apart …I really wish my father was home. He's the glue that holds us together, you know? I'm scared because I have to be the strong one now and I don't know if I can do it," her voice broke as she glanced down, curling her fingers around his hand and giving it a squeeze.

_He felt like he'd been hit by a train. Daniel was sure his head was going to explode from the dull ache. Wait a second- was that someone talking? Whoever it was sounded so far away…he couldn't make out the voice. He wanted to open his eyes, but they were so heavy... _

"I didn't ask the nurse how Alexis was doing. Guess I should have. I was just in a hurry to see you," she sighed, frowning at his bruised face.

_He tried to focus on the voice as it became closer. Was that Betty?_

She stood, running her free hand through his brown locks. "I wasn't there for you when you needed me. I just walked away. You never would've taken that many drugs if I'd just talked to you. And I'm sorry," a tear rolled down her cheek. She released his hand momentarily, turning around to grab a tissue from the small desk next to his bed.

She turned back to him, letting out a small gasp when she noticed his eyelids moving. "Oh my God! Daniel?" she asked, grabbing his hand again. Betty felt his grip on her hand tighten.

Daniel swallowed hard, his throat as dry as a desert. He slowly attempted to move his head in the direction of her voice, but grimaced at the pain shooting through his back. He slightly opened his mouth to speak.

"Betty..." his mumble was almost inaudible, but she heard it. "I'm here…" she said softly, watching as he groaned in pain.

"Daniel wait...don't move your head, you'll hurt yourself," she warned, pushing the on-call button then turning her attention back to him.

He very carefully opened his eyes, the image before him as blurry as ever.

"Betty? Wh…where…what...happened?" he whispered slowly, his voice still raspy. "You and Alexis were in an accident. You're in the hospital, Daniel," Betty explained gently, still holding his hand.

"Accident?" he asked perplexed. "There was a car accident. Alexis veered off the road and there was a crash," she explained, watching the confusion on his face dwindle.

Daniel closed his eyes again, suddenly remembering what happened and why they were going so fast in the first place. "Is she okay?" he questioned, his pools of blue gazing up at Betty. If anything happened to Alexis, he'd never be able to forgive himself. He was the reason she was in such a hurry...the reason they crashed.

"I'm not sure…I promise I'll find out for you," Betty told him, turning towards the door as Dr. James and the nurse came in.

Betty released his hand and stepped back so they could examine him. "Hi Daniel…I'm Dr. James. Glad to see you're finally awake," she gave him a small smile, opening her chart. "Daniel, when you were brought into the ER, we had to perform emergency surgery on your spine due to displacement of one of your vertebra. I'm going to ask you a few questions, okay?" Daniel's heart started beating as he thought of the possible consequences of major back surgery.

"Can you feel this?" she asked, gliding a wisp of cotton up his leg.

"Barely...but yes," Daniel whispered.

"Tell me if this hurts," she touched his leg with the blunt end of a safety pin. "Yes," he answered, glancing back at the doctor.

"Can you wiggle your toes for me?" He looked at his feet, doing as he was told.

"Alright...I want you to try to lift this leg up. Don't strain yourself," she motioned to the one without the cast, watching as Daniel struggled to lift it a few inches off the bed.

Dr. James sighed, "Okay Daniel…your lower motor function seems to be fine. The surgery was a success. You have a long recovery ahead of you, though. You suffered fractures in your leg and just had back surgery. You're going to need someone to care for you around the clock and monitor the medications you'll be taking," she explained. "We'll be contacting a home health care nurse to help you with everything."

"Okay," Daniel let out a sigh. "We're going to keep you here at least four more days for observation…then we'll see how you're recovering and take it from there," Dr. James glanced at him as she continued to scribble notes on her chart.

"Umm...doctor...how's Alexis?" Betty asked, stepping forward. Dr. James closed her chart, "unfortunately, Alexis is still unconscious. There's been no change in any of her vitals. If you'd like to visit, she's in the last room down the hall to the right. I'll be back in to check on you shortly, Daniel," Dr. James looked back at her patient before exiting the room.

Daniel closed his eyes briefly, then glanced at Betty out of the corner of his eye. "I don't really know what to say, Betty. Who knows what you must be thinking of me right now," he said quietly. "I'm so stupid...I don't even know what was running through my mind...if anything. I took all those pills with all that alcohol. I could easily be dead right now."

"But you're not," Betty replied moving closer to his bedside, "And you're not stupid, Daniel...you just made a mistake."

"A mistake that almost cost you your life," Bradford's voice came from the doorway. Betty heard Daniel sigh and saw him tense up. "Yeah...I'm well aware of that, Dad," Daniel turned his head to look at him.

"What the hell were you doing? God, don't you realize that your actions have consequences? Do you ever think?" Betty uncomfortably glanced at the cold stare Bradford was giving and the look in Daniel's eyes. They were filled with hatred, anger, guilt, and fear for the one person whose approval meant the world to him.

"I guess not everyone can be as perfect as you. If I gave you the world on a silver platter you'd tell me it wasn't good enough! I realized that nothing I do is EVER going to please you, so I just stopped trying." Daniel angrily told him.

Bradford took a deep breath, shaking his head, "Maybe that's for the best." With that, he turned as Daniel's glare followed him out the room.

Betty looked into Daniel's blue eyes, quickly filling with threatening tears. "Daniel, don't listen to him. You're human and we make mistakes. The important thing is that you learn from them," she grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze.

Daniel turned his head away from her and slightly moved his hand from underneath hers. "I think I need to be alone right now, Betty," he said quietly, trying to mask the pain in his voice. Betty took a step back. "Okay," she replied softly, a little hurt. Betty closed his door behind her, trying to keep her emotions in check.

Betty was halfway down the hallway when she felt her phone, seeing 'home' on the display. "Hilda? What is it? Do you need me to come home?" Betty asked nervously.

"No...I'm okay Betty. I'm calling because I've been doing a lot of thinking this morning. And...after Santos' funeral, Justin and I are going to Mexico to spend some time with Papi," Hilda explained.

"What? No...why're you leaving?" Betty wondered. This was all a little drastic. "It's where I need to be. Justin and I need to be with Papi right now. Besides, I don't want to overwhelm you. You have your job, and Daniel's gonna need you-"

"You're my family! You'll need me more," she argued.

"Betty...it's okay. I think it'll be good for us...we need time to heal. Plus, I found some amazingly cheap tickets. Trust me, sis. The decision's already been made."

Betty let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing her temples. There was no arguing with her sister when her mind was made up...even if she wanted them to stay home. "Okay," she conceded, shrugging her shoulders.

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**A/N: I do have a general idea of where I want to go with this story...I'm just not as into it as I once was. Let me know what you think. Thanks :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey guys, so I know I haven't touched this story in like...76 years, but since the show is ending I figured I'd try to finish it. I wrote this chapter awhile ago, but didn't post because I wasn't sure where I was going with the story...maybe you all can give me some ideas? Let me know what you think :P  
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Betty knew what it was. The dull pressure turning into an ache in her left temple and in her sinus cavities. It would only happen when she'd been holding her emotions in for too long. She needed to cry.

Unfortunately for her, she had forced herself not to too many times in the last few days and now she was paying the price. She'd wanted to cry for Daniel when she'd learned there was a slim chance Alexis would ever be waking up.

She needed to be strong for Hilda at Santos' funeral, so she'd kept the tears at bay.

When she'd hugged her sister and Justin goodbye as they headed for the airport a couple of days later, all she could manage was a small smile, telling them to phone when they landed.

Betty knew the tears would fall eventually...she just didn't know when.**  
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She closed the door to Daniel's loft, making her way to the living area. "Daniel?" she called his name, watching him wheel himself toward her from the hallway.

"Hey. What brings you by?" he looked somewhat surprised to see her.

"I just wanted to stop by...see how you were. I brought you some food. Enchiladas," she sat the sack full of plastic containers in his kitchen.

"Where's Jill? Isn't she supposed to be here?" Betty asked, referring to his rehabilitation therapist.

"Oh...well I...sent her home early. I'm not really in the mood today," he rubbed the stubble on his face and glanced away.

"Well...that's not really the point. You have to complete your sessions if you expect your back to-"

"I know, Betty, okay?! I don't need to hear one of your lectures right now or how disappointed you are in me. Look, thanks for the food...but I don't need you to come over here. I need you to give me some space...I've got people that can come take care of me. You don't have to," the intense look in his fiery blue eyes made her take a step back.

"Why are you doing this? Why do you keep pushing me away?" Betty crossed her arms. "I've given you space for three weeks! Daniel, you're depressed...I don't care if you deny it. You are and you need me here!" Betty felt her pulse start to race and a lump forming in her throat. Damn him...why'd he have to be so stubborn?

"You don't know what you're talking about! Just leave it alone," he was angry now...Betty could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice.

"Okay...fine, then. I'll just stop caring about your well-being," she told him, hands shaking as she adjusted the purse on her shoulder.

"Good," came his muttered reply.

"I'll just let you fall deeper and deeper into the abyss that you insist on sinking into. You obviously don't care about getting better...why should I?" she yelled back at him, feeling as if she was going to lose it.

"You're right I don't so leave me alone damn it!" Daniel said harshly, then paused when he saw the tears welling in her chocolate eyes. He paused, gazing at his hardwood floor and moved his wheelchair closer to her. What was he doing? Yelling at Betty of all people.

"Betty...hey, don't cry," he put his hand over hers letting out a sigh. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you," his tone softened, "It's just-I don't want you to see me like this. I don't want you to go out of your way to help me...I don't deserve it."

"What? How can you say that?"

"Because I don't...if it wasn't for me, Alexis wouldn't be lying unconscious in the hospital and I wouldn't be in this wheelchair unable to work. This is my fault," his blue eyes locked with her teary gaze.

"Stop blaming yourself...you made a mistake. Stop beating yourself up about it and let me be there for you," she insisted.

Daniel kept his gaze on her, then glanced down and let out a sigh. "I don't know Betty...I don't wanna be more of a burden to you than I already am," he looked at her uncertainly.

"You're not a burden. You're my friend. And I'm here to help...just let me," Betty told him.

Daniel looked back up at her, seeing the honesty in her eyes. "Okay," he replied simply after a brief pause. "I'm sorry I upset you, Betty. I didn't mean to be such a jerk," he apologized again, wheeling himself to the table and grabbing a box of tissues.

"It's okay," she sniffed, grabbing a couple and blowing her nose.

"Is something else bothering you?" he wondered.

Betty took a deep breath, sitting on his sofa. "It's...all the drama with my dad, and...your accident...Hilda and Justin went to Mexico last weekend. She said she needed to be near dad...that it would be good for her healing process," she explained to him. Daniel nodded in understanding. No wonder she'd been so upset. She'd been through so much...and she was just trying to help him out. Putting others before herself...as usual...

"So you've been in an empty house for the last week," Daniel said, watching her nod briefly. "I'm sorry Betty. I'm sure that's been hard for you. When I get better...I promise I'll do everything I can to help get your dad back," he told her, searching her moist eyes.

"Don't worry about that, Daniel. Just focus on getting better," she folded a tissue in her hand.

Daniel let out a frustrated sigh, "why do you do that?"

Betty looked up at him slightly confused. "What?"

"You talk about me not wanting help, and that's true because I'm stubborn. But you won't let me help _you_. You're taking on entirely too much right now," he said.

Betty shrugged, his concerned gaze focused on her. "I don't know. Ever since my mother died, _I've_ been the one that takes care of the family. And when I can't...it's just frustrating," she admitted.

Daniel's hand wrapped around hers. "You can't take care of everyone, Betty. Some things are out of your control. Just let me help, okay?"

She nodded reluctantly, feeling the secure grip of his hand around hers. "Hey I've got an idea," he said suddenly. "Why don't you stay here with me?" he was rewarded with a crazy look from Betty.

"No, hear me out. I can start looking into getting Ignacio legalized. Neither one of us will have to be alone, and having you around will keep me in line. I promise I'll do my sessions and whatever else I need to get better. There's a guest bedroom and bathroom, too. It's certainly not a _bad_ idea...I've had much worse," Daniel explained, a small grin on his face. Betty had to admit, it didn't sound too bad...just really weird. Shacking up with her boss? That was going to go over well at the office.

"Let me think about it. Deal?" she replied.

A smirk formed at the corners of his mouth, "deal."

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**Please review, send any suggestions you have my way...thanks!**


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